Pilfer-proof merchandise case



March 20, 1962 A. 1.. SNAPE 3, ,958

PILFER-PROOFMERCHANDISE CASE Filed May 27, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG lIN VEN TOR.

BY Ahrea L. 5/20 02 Hi5 Mfume/5 March 20, 1962 A. L. SNAPE 3,025,958

PILFER-PROOF MERCHANDISE CASE Filed May 27, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 9

INVENTOR.

Hi5 wameys tates Patent 3,.fl25fi58 Patented Mar. 20, 1962 free3,tl25,958 PILFER PRQGF MERCHANDESE CASE Alfred L. Snape, Stoughton,Mass, assignor to The Gillette Company, Boston, Mass, a corporation ofDelaware Filed May 27, 1959, Ser. No. 816,243 9 (Ilaims. (Cl. 206-49)This invention comprises a new and improved pilferproof case for smallarticles such as safety razors and blades contained in shaving outfits.

Such cases as heretofore exhibited for sale, particularly underself-service conditions, have been subject to the very serious objectionthat they tempt pilfering, that is to say, they make it too easy for anunscrupulous shopper to surreptitiously open the case and abstract ablade package or the like. When the case is immediately closed the lossis not realized by the dealer.

Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide a casethat cannot be readily opened by a customer without in some Way givingnotice of the fact. A further object of the invention is to providehinged cases of the type already in Wide commercial use with adestructible locking device which is effective to prevent opening of thecase unless mutilated in being forcibly removed from its initialposition. Such treatment of the locking device is. a conspicuous signalto the dealer that pilfering has occurred. It also reacts as a powerfuldeterrent to a possible pilferer.

As applied to a case having a receptacle and cover hinged together, theinvention is embodied therein by providing a recess in one of the twoand a complementary projection in the other which is movable into therecess when the cover is opened, in combination with a destructiblelocking device of sheet material such as cardboard which is engagedWithin the cover and projects outwardly in position to obstruct the saidrecess.

The features and advantages of the invention will be best understood andappreciated from the following description of preferred embodimentsthereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a hinged case, shown with the locking device inoperative position,

FIG. 2 is a view in perspective of the locking device,

FIG. 3 is an end view of the case, partly in section on the line 3-3 ofFIG. 1, showing the locking device in position for insertion,

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary bottom view of the case,

FIG. 5 is an end view of the case,

FIG. 6 is a sectional view on the line 6-6 of FIG. 1,

FIGS. 7 and 8 are fragmentary views on an enlarged scale showing thehinge mechanism of the case, the line -88 of FIG. 5 indicating thesection shown in FIG. 8,

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a blank for a locking device of alternativeconstruction, and

FIGS. 10 and 11 are views in side elevation and section showing itsapplication to a hinged case.

The case herein shown comprises a base or receptacle having a fiatbottom 11 merging into convex front and rear walls 12 and 13. The endwalls of the case comprise inner sections 14, 14' and outer sections 15,15' spaced from each other and connected by integral pivot pins 16 atthe rear of the case and horizontal webs 22 which extend to the frontedge of the case. The two end wall sections form at the rear end of thebase an open recess or slot in which a portion of the cover is freelymovable as will presently appear.

Within the receptacle is located a deck 17 in which is formed a cavity18 for a safety razor and a cavity 19 for razor blades or a bladedispenser. In the front Wall of the receptacle is formed a yieldinglatch 20 which makes spring engagement with the cover and may bedepressed to free it for opening.

The cover 24 is generally convex in shape having end Walls 25 which areprovided with downwardly extending sectors 26. In each of these sectorsis formed a bearing to engage one of the pivot pins 16, and the sectorsare freely movable within the recess formed between the inner and outerend walls 14 and 15 of the receptacle.

The rear edge of the cover 24 is offset inwardly or upwardly so that alateral slot 28 is formed between the cover and the top edge of the rearwall 13 of the receptacle when the cover is closed. The cover is thusshaped so that it is free to swing down outside the rear wall 13 inbeing opened. It is, however, provided at each of its rear corners witha projection or arm 29 that passes downwardly into the recess betweenthe end wall sections 14 and 15 when the cover is opened. In the closedposition of the cover these arms are located slightly above the topedges of the wall sections 14 and 15, and as will be presentlyexplained, the cover is locked in closed position by interposing ablocking card or plate between the arms 29- and the recesses.

The cover is biased toward open position by a straight wire spring 27,located between the end Wall sections 14' and 15 at one end of thereceptacle. The section 26 at that end of the receptacle is grooved inits arcuate edge to receive the rear end of the wire spring 27 while thefront end of the wire is held beneath the web 22,. The inner wallsection 14' is vertically slotted to permit passage of a flange 17' ofthe deck 17 in position to engage and hold the wire 27 in place againstthe under side of the web 22.

The destructible locking device as herein shown comprises a card havinga rectangular body 30 with a scored corrugation setting off a flange 31at its rear edge. This flange has corner notches 32 which define anintermediate flap 33 of such length as to fit snugly between the arms 29of the cover. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the flap 33 is folded uponitself to form an anchor ply 34 which is adhesively secured to the flap33 and the flap is then folded upwardly and biased to stand resilientlyand obliquely at an angle of about 45 to the body 30 of the card. Theanchor ply 34 extends at its lower edge substantially beyond the flap33.

When the case has been closed and its cover latched as shown in FIGS. 3and 5, the flap 33 may be flattened by hand, as suggested in FIG. 3, andinserted into the case through the slot 28 until arrested by engagementof the edges of the notches 32 with the end walls 25 of the cover wherethese walls are notched beneath the arms 29. This occurs when theanchoring flap has passed wholly through the slot 28 and as soon as thishappens the flap springs up into the position shown in FIG. 2, thuslocking the card against withdrawal and in position with the flange 31blocking entrance of the cover arms 29 to the recesses beneath them inthe end walls of the receptacle. The locking card cannot be forcedfurther into the case because of the engagement of its notches 32 withparts of the cover and it cannot be withdrawn because of the action ofthe anchor flap as suggested in FIG. 6. The harder the card is pulledoutwardly the more the anchor flange tends to approach a right angularposition in which it cannot possibly pass through the slot 28, theaction being somewhat like that of the barb of a fish hook.

The result is that the case is locked against being opened and the onlyway to release the cover is forcibly to tear the card apart in such amanner as to free the slots in the end walls of the receptacle forpassage of the arms 29 of the cover. Such procedure, of course,immediately notifies the dealer or any observer that the case has beentampered with.

The body 30 of the card is shown as perforated and may conveniently beused to suspend the individual cases for display if so desired. It alsoserves as a medium for advertising and price information.

A locking device of somewhat alternative nature is shown in FIGS. 9-11.The blank as shown in FIG. 9 is generally rectangular in outline andincludes within its area a large external panel 40 shouldered andmerging into two narrower intermediate panels 41 and 42 set off by atransverse division line or crease 41'.

The intermediate panel 42 merges into a terminal panel 4 3 havinglaterally extending ears 44 at each edge, a wide forwardly extendingcentral flap 45 and a tongue 46 at each edge separated by a slot fromthe flap 45 and by a transverse scored line from the body of the panel43. In completing the locking device these tongues 46 are foldedinwardly or forwardly between the panel 40 and the terminal panel 43 asshown in FIGS. 9 and 10.

The width of the external panel 40 and the overall width of the ears 44is greater than the distance between the two end walls 25 of the case sothat they cannot be inserted in the slot 28 between the cover 24 and therear wall 13 of the base. Only that portion of the blank between theshoulders of the panel 40 and the ears 44 can be inserted.

In placing the locking device in operative position it is first foldedon the line 41' with the panel 42 and the terminal panel 43 lyingbeneath the panels 4% and 41. The tongues 46 are at the same time foldedforwardly between the panel 40 and the body of the panel 43, as shown inFIGS. 10 and 11. The blank folded in this fashion may now be inserteduntil the shoulders of the panel 40 engage the end walls of the cover.Thereupon the flap 45 is pushed inwardly until the cars 44 engage theend walls of the base and in this final movement the intermediate panel42 is forced into the upright position shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 and theslot between the cover and base is filled by three thicknesses of thesheet material of the locking device.

The cover 24 of the case cannot therefore be opened and the lockingdevice cannot be removed by pulling outwardly on the external panel 40,being prevented by the panel 41 which is held in its forwardly inclinedposition by the three layers of sheet material beneath its forward edge,thus forming an angular obstruction to withdrawal of the card.

On the other hand, the device may be removed by pulling outwardly on theconcealed flap 45 since in this case there is nothing to prevent thepanel 42 from swinging forwardly about its upper edge 41'.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described in detail anillustrative embodiment thereof, I claim as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent:

1. A pilfer-proof case comprising a receptacle and cover hinged togetherand having, one a recess and the other a complementary projectionmovable into the recess when the cover is opened, and a destructiblelocking device engaged within the cover and projecting outwardly inposition to obstruct the said recess.

2. A pilfer-proof case comprising a receptacle having an external recessat each end, a cover hinged to the receptacle, having arms movable intothe recesses when the cover is swung into open position and spaced fromthe receptacle by a narrow slot at its rear edge, in combination with alocking device of sheet material insertable through said slot and havingan inner anchor flange and an outer portion blocking .the externalrecesses at the end of the receptacle.

3. A pilfer-proof case comprising a receptacle of rectangular contourhaving internal compartments for a safety razor and a blade package andexternal slots at one end at least, a cover pivotally connected to thereceptacle and having projecting portions arranged to enter said slotswhen the cover is swung into open position, and a destructible cardinserted between the receptacle and its cover and having a resilientanchor portion biased toward angular relation with respect to the cardas a whole, and outer portions arranged to overlie the external slots ofthe receptacle.

4. A pilfer-proof case comprising a hollow rectangular receptacle havingend walls of spaced sections defining walled slots at both ends of thereceptacle, pivot pins traversing said slots, a cover mounted to swingon said pivot pins and having end wall portions arranged to enter saidslots when the cover is swung toward open position, and a locking cardnotched to engage the end walls of the cover and to locate the card inblocking relation to the slots, and a resilient anchor section carriedby the card at its inner end.

5L In a hinged case having a clearance slot between a base and a cover,a locking card having a rectangular body, notched inwardly at itsforward corners and having at its inner edge between said notches atransversely folded resilient anchor section biased to project upwardlyand downwardly beyond both faces of the card as a whole and compressibleto pass through the slot of the case.

6. In a hinged case having a clearance slot between a base and a cover,a locking card having a flat rectangular :body notched inwardly at itsforward corners and having its inner edge section between the notchestransversely folded into an upstanding flap, and a ply of cardboardadhesively secured to said flap and extending transversely beyond thelower face of the card as a whole, said transverse fold and said ply ofcardboard secured thereto being compressible to pass through the slot ofthe case and biased to expand to a size to preclude withdrawal of thecard.

7. A case having a receptacle for small articles and a cover hingedthereto at one side, and partially separated from the receptacle by anarrow slot, the receptacle having an open top recess therein and thecover having an arm normally standing above the recess and movablethereinto when the cover is opened, in combination with a card having aresilient anchor flange that may be inserted through the said slot andwhich is biased to spring into angular locking position when fullyinserted and in that position to overlie said recess.

8. In a case having a base and a hinged cover with a clearance slotbetween them, a locking card having a rectangular body notched at itsopposite edges to define a narrower intermediate section entered in saidslot and transversely folded within the case in the form of an angularobstruction to withdrawal of the card.

9. A razor set case comprising a base and a cover hinged to said base atone side thereof, the base having an open top recess therein and saidcover having an arm movable into said recess when the cover is swungopen, said arm and adjacent edge of said cover being spaced from saidbase adjacent said recess to permit insertion of a locking devicetherein to overlie said recess and prevent said arm from entering saidrecess.

Webber Feb. 15, 1938 Colgate Nov. 17, 1959 Uni-nil Lad. .-.t.

